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Working in Chiyoda, Tokyo -- Where to live?

Moving to Tokyo soon, and I'm a little overwhelmed by all the different neighborhoods and trying to figure out where to look for an apartment. Can anyone recommend areas that might have a pleasant commute to Chiyoda so I can narrow my search a little?

I'll only be in the city for 6 months, which also looks like it'll limit my options for for an apartment quite a bit since most landlords want much longer leases. Are places like Sakura/Oak house my only real options? They seem kind of overpriced compared to some other apartments I've found (but those others typically required a long lease).

Depends on what you mean by a "pleasant commute"! By motorcycle? By train (there aren't many pleasant commutes by train)?
If it were me and I were only going to live in TKO for six months and work in Chiyoda, I'd find a place near Monzennnakacho. You can ride, you can take a bus and you can even walk to work. There are short-term rentals but I don't know where to look for them.

Chiyoda is central Tokyo so you have lots of options. For 6 months I would search for "Weekly Mansion Tokyo". Rates are around 70,000/month, and they are furnished. You might even find one within a reasonable walk from work.

Yes, they are small. It's Tokyo - all apartments are small.

It's really not worth the bother of looking in the suburbs for a short-term lease and then dealing with the trains. Also not worth the bother of getting a vehicle as parking it in Chiyoda is... challenging.

Depends on what you mean by a "pleasant commute"! By motorcycle? By train (there aren't many pleasant commutes by train)?

Ideally by motorcycle, but I don't know, yet, how my employer will react to me commuting by bike, so my original thought of living somewhere remote but cheap is probably not the safest idea.

Originally Posted by NorthbyNW

If it were me and I were only going to live in TKO for six months and work in Chiyoda, I'd find a place near Monzennnakacho. You can ride, you can take a bus and you can even walk to work. There are short-term rentals but I don't know where to look for them.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll see what I can find :)

Originally Posted by rtfm

Yes, they are small. It's Tokyo - all apartments are small.

The size of the kitchens I'm seeing in photos worries me more than the overall size of apartments. Many don't look like they even have enough counter space to cut up some vegetables... I'll get used to it, though, I'm sure.

Originally Posted by rtfm

Also not worth the bother of getting a vehicle as parking it in Chiyoda is... challenging.

I can't go six months without riding a bike, and I largely took the position as a means to cover touring expenses in Japan since I couldn't easily afford it otherwise. Even if I only get out on weekends, I'll be happy as long as I get to ride through some of the Japanese countryside while I'm there!

If you live in the city, the cost of parking your bike is going to be high. The same problem with riding to work.
So I'd say you're going to have to find a place out of the city where bike parking is cheap / free, and get a train or otherwise to work.
You'll first have to find out where the 'weekly mansions' are, and then go from there.

Working in Chiyoda, Tokyo -- Where to live?

Being a bit crude here, but if you are male and single and live very centrally in a lively area, you might feel that you have died and woken up in heaven.
So, get somewhere small, central, 5 min walk from metro.
If you want a quieter life with more space, then move out a bit. You can get a long way out if you don't mind a 40min commute.
With 40 mins outside Tokyo that can be a long way as the trains are fast and reliable. Even if you live inside central Tokyo, and commute within central Tokyo, it'll probably still take 40mins to slog across the city by Metro.

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RedSquare
Some pithy saying about biking, or a quote from a self-styled guru. Take your pick.

Without giving too much away, knowing an approximate budget will help us give you a reality check (or angry jealous comments) on both the apartment and your expectations for the type of bike you'd like to buy, park, insure, etc.

As above, if you're single you want quick access and likely will want to be closer to the action, which will significantly impact the size and cost of the apartment and the parking.

If you are sponsored by company then a serviced apartment can be very nice and some have motorcycle parking, though expect to pay 500,000 a month for one bedroom, 60sqm. maybe a bit less for a studio. If you are lucky you may be able to negotiate the parking as included. If you are thinking about commuting also factor in the cost of parking at the office. Probably 20,000 a month minimum in that area unless subsidized by the company.

Other potential options are guesthouses, which have shared facilities. These can actually be quite nice for meeting people and sometimes not too poorly located. My first time in Japan I lived a year in one and met some great people, many of which are still friends today. this was located at Nakano-Sakaue, which is relatively central and on 2 big train lines and had a small space for bikes and motorcycles.

If you want to ride, but realistically will only get out once a month, then you can always rent. One of the bigger organizations has a lot of participating outlets and gives a small members discount. You automatically become a member on the first registration. This would also give you access to an array of bike, depending on what kind of riding you might be doing.

If it were me, I would live centrally, consider the guest house (though not if you need to do any work at home maybe or have hard time sleeping with noise), and see if I could afford to own the bike, though commute on train. Use the bike for night rides and dates and weekend touring.

Being a bit crude here, but if you are male and single and live very centrally in a lively area, you might feel that you have died and woken up in heaven.
So, get somewhere small, central, 5 min walk from metro.
If you want a quieter life with more space, then move out a bit. You can get a long way out if you don't mind a 40min commute.
With 40 mins outside Tokyo that can be a long way as the trains are fast and reliable. Even if you live inside central Tokyo, and commute within central Tokyo, it'll probably still take 40mins to slog across the city by Metro.

My current commute is only 13 km and takes over 40 minutes by train, so I can live with a bit of a commute if necessary :)

Originally Posted by G-rider

Without giving too much away, knowing an approximate budget will help us give you a reality check (or angry jealous comments) on both the apartment and your expectations for the type of bike you'd like to buy, park, insure, etc.

I'll get a whopping 170,000 yen per month. More zeroes than I've ever seen in a paycheck before! I plan to sell my current motorcycle to cover the cost of buying one in Japan, with the goal of never forgetting which side of the street I'm supposed to drive on so I can sell it for close to what I bought it for when I leave. If I can find a decent bike for 200,000-300,000 yen I think my current bike should cover it. From what I've heard (and if I've got this wrong, please let me know), utilities run around 10,000 per month, insurance for the bike is maybe 15,000. So with that, plus parking, I guess my budget for an apartment tops out around 70,000 or 80,000 (though I'm honestly not sure what the cost of food is like there, and probably I'm missing some expenses). I have some savings I can dip into if necessary (though obviously if I can make it work on my paychecks alone that'd be ideal).

So, if you've got that reality check, now might be a good time ;)

Originally Posted by G-rider

If you are sponsored by company then a serviced apartment can be very nice and some have motorcycle parking, though expect to pay 500,000 a month for one bedroom, 60sqm. maybe a bit less for a studio. If you are lucky you may be able to negotiate the parking as included. If you are thinking about commuting also factor in the cost of parking at the office. Probably 20,000 a month minimum in that area unless subsidized by the company.

I don't think that'll be possible. I first heard about Sakura House as a suggestion from my employer...

Originally Posted by G-rider

If it were me, I would live centrally, consider the guest house (though not if you need to do any work at home maybe or have hard time sleeping with noise), and see if I could afford to own the bike, though commute on train. Use the bike for night rides and dates and weekend touring.

I have been looking into guest houses as well. Definitely seems like the easiest way to get a short-term rental. I will need to work from home a bit due to ongoing obligations outside Japan, but not on a daily basis or anything like that.